The Japanese are all about perfecting something to the ultimate level. Drinking & drink making are some of those skills that they have mastered. The process of making drinks is an art that has practiced steps and grace. The original place to do this is in Izakaya.

At these bars you can get all manor of drinks as well as food. Something else that makes them unique is a concept called “Bottle Keep”. Kampai is a great resource to learn more about this. The basic concept is that you can buy a full bottle of booze at these bars and keep it stored at the bar for repeat visits. This gets you more value out of the bottle since you can spread it out over many trips. Traditionally, the bottles were stored out in the open so customers could see how popular a bar was and to show how trustworthy they were. They were trustworthy because it showed that they weren’t serving or drinking from the “kept” bottles.

The more modern type of bar is a Western-Style bar that offers more individual drinks and is called a “shot bar”.